


Losing You

by Taruyison



Series: Fourteen Million Six Hundred and Five [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, Don't copy to another site, I Was Drunk When I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taruyison/pseuds/Taruyison
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Fourteen Million Six Hundred and Five [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100231
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	Losing You

“Tony” Stephen said softly, reaching up with a scarred hand to place it over Tony’s trembling ones. He inhaled a breath when those fathomless brown eyes looked at him, the air stinging in his lungs.

“No” the mechanic said stubbornly, his voice breaking. He pressed his lips into a line while shaking his head. He wasn’t at all ready for this to happen - not this soon. He wouldn’t ever be ready for it. Especially not like this.

“It’s okay, Tones”. 

“It’s not okay, dammit, I’ll fix you”. Tony tried wiggling his hands free to activate the nano-tech of his suit, but the stupid wizard held them firmly to his chest. 

“You can’t fix this” Stephen said, coughing. Pain whipped through his body, pulling him closer to unconsciousness. He grimaced, wrapping his fingers around Tony’s.

“I can, I have to”. Tony once more tried to pull his hands free, this time succeeding. The nano-tech crept down his arm, forming around his hand and wrist. He had to be able to do this, there was no other choice. He was stopped by the sorcerer’s hand grabbing his wrist, fingers blocking the exits for the magical-heal-it-all-solution, as he’d called it once. 

“Tony” said magician said. Tony didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want to look at him. He wasn’t ready for this to happen yet, and he wanted to fix it. He had tried to prevent it for so long, and succeeded. He didn’t want to fail now, he couldn’t.

But Stephen knew better. Stephen had been a doctor. He knew that their time was up. “There’s no cure for death” he said, barely above a whisper. Tony knew that the words were supposed to be comforting. He knew that Stephen wanted him to just let it happen, but how could he?

“But you can’t leave me!” he exclaimed, voice breaking. Tears now finally started to well in his eyes, and they spilled over before he could stop them. “I can’t live without you”. 

Now the sorcerer smiled. Weakly, and it send electric jolts of pain into every corner of his face, but he just couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, Tony, you can” he said. Tony looked at him with great disbelief along with the sadness and grief that was already starting to build up inside him. Stephen tried to adjust his position to be more comfortable, but needles of pain shot down his back as he did. He settled, figuring he was comfortable enough. 

“I’ve seen your future” he continued once the pain had dulled, reaching a hand up to cup Tony’s cheek. “The only reason I’m able to leave without feeling any regret is because I know you will be happy”. 

Tony immediately wanted to object. He wanted to turn his back and walk away, like he always did. He wanted to sit by himself and pout until the wizard would come searching for him and tell him that he was right. But he couldn’t leave Stephen now. This wasn’t like all the other times. He was dying, and Tony knew that. He just didn’t want to admit it.

“How could I ever be happy without you?” he asked silently, tears falling from his cheeks down to land on Stephen’s chest. The wizard looked at him with an apologetic expression. 

“You know I can’t tell you”. 

That's when Tony broke. He didn’t care that he was crying. He should’ve been the one to lay down his life for someone else. But instead, that damned sorcerer had gotten his hands dirty for once and blamed it on the greater good. “Damn you, wizard!”. 

He saw Stephen’s eyes fall close, no longer having the strength to stay open. In a fit of panic, the mechanic wrapped his arms around the sorcerer and pulled him in close. He still had a heartbeat, even if it was slowing. He was still breathing, even if it was ragged. And he still had a voice, even if it was barely above a whisper. “I love you, Tony” he rasped. 

Tony couldn’t help the selfishness from surfacing and poking its ugly head into what he now realized might just be their final moment together. “I hate you for doing this”.

He heard Stephen’s dry chuckle in his ear, then the weak, wet cough as blood was rising in his throat, clogging his airways. Tony felt it smear against his cheek when the wizard spoke. “Please..”, then a pause that felt like it lasted for far too long, “don’t let those....be the last.....words I hear”. 

Tony desperately tried to come up with something better. He held Stephen closer to himself, rocking them both gently back and forth. “I can’t lose you” he whispered, inhaling a disgusting, wet sob. Stephen’s body was feeling far too heavy in his arms. He was fading, and fast. 

The words he uttered was barely a whisper. Tony only heard them because his ear was right next to his mouth; “You can”.

The mechanic inhaled a ragged breath. He didn’t dare do let go. He didn’t want to let go yet. He couldn’t even begin to understand how the wizard could so readily leave him behind. Why wasn’t he fighting? Why wasn’t he begging for his life? How could Tony’s future be anything but dread and grief without Stephen in it? He didn’t want a future without Stephen. He loved that asshole, through everything. Through death. He wanted to let Stephen know that. 

“I love you, you bastard” he choked out. 

And though Tony wasn’t looking, having his face buried in the sorcerer’s bloodied clothes, the corners of Stephen’s mouth twitched upwards into a smile. The physical pain had stopped long ago. Now the emotional pain, and the traces of fear he had been feeling, disappeared with the wind. 

Though Tony didn’t know it, Stephen used the last of the strength he had left to push his astral form out of his physical form, and he held the mechanic just as close as the mechanic held him. He placed a kiss in the midst of that soft, brown hair, and he whispered; “I’ll be okay now Tony. I finally get to meet my little sister”. 

As his body took a final, shivering breath, and fell limp in Tony’s arms, Tony’s heart shattered.


End file.
